Do you think alien abductions really occur?

Discuss.

No. Avductees are delusional crackheads with a weird fixation on having their asses probed for a reason I could never work out.

Yeah, because it makes too much sense to not ever happen. I mean, why wouldn't a space fairing race (whom's existence in an infinate universe is possible, but unlikely to be within walking distance) stop by another inhabited planet just to wisk one of us away once in awhile and stick things... Only to return us within half an hour so nobody gets suspicious.

Hell, if I was an alien, I'd sneak one of you guys away and then NOT return you. Worst case scenario, you feed my dog, and a single missing persons report on a not-space-ready race once in awhile isn't going to cause many problems.

No, I don't think they happen. Not that I don't think it's possible for aliens to exist, I just think that they'll have better ways of interacting than abducting us and sticking things in holes. And they would probably be able to make sure we don't remember if they do.

Nope, and I say this as someone who possesses every single Fortean Times ever printed. Literally - my dad gave them to me before his new girlfriend stopped him from talking about anything remotely occult/otherworldly (there's nothing scarier than seeing your father wear pink for the first time). Does anyone know if they are worth anything?

Back on topic, whilst taking into account that the universe is so enormous and old that it'd be conceited to think we are the only forms of life ever (also currently being disproven via Mars), I honestly don't think that a species with the kind of technology to enable them to travel so far would want to abduct rednecks in order to impregnate impossibly beautiful alien women, which is a re-occurring trend in abductions apparently.
That or metal probes stuck everywhere the sun can and cannot shine.

With that technology they would either be able to scan us in situ or, more likely, intercept our media and find out about us that way. There is a giant metal tube with all our information on it floating around out there already. Or did it crash?

Oh, and crop circles are made by blokes with a stick, some string and too much spare time.

Interestingly, at new years my mother was freaking out at some lights floating in the sky - I got to see first hand what Chinese Lanterns look like at night - you can kind of see why they are reported as UFO's, they are let off in groups and can get quite high, there are interesting air currents high up, and all you can see is the light from the tea light/candle, nothing else. They were as pretty as the fireworks, to be honest.

AuntyEthel:
No. Avductees are delusional crackheads with a weird fixation on having their asses probed for a reason I could never work out.

Gentle pressure on the prostate gland feels good (so I have been told).

Blue Sonnet:
Oh, and crop circles are made by blokes with a stick, some string and too much spare time.

I doubt it, unless those blokes are hundreds of years old. The first crop circle recorded was in the 17th century. I don't think it's aliens or shite like that, but they don't seem to be man made.

cuddly_tomato:

I doubt it, unless those blokes are hundreds of years old. The first crop circle recorded was in the 17th century. I don't think it's aliens or shite like that, but they don't seem to be man made.

Well, not the same blokes, obviously. I'm pretty sure the stick is new too.

Pedantic time - now look what you've made me do!
Studies have been done showing that around 80% of circles in the UK are man-made (Spignesi, Stephen J. and Andrews, Colin (2003) "Crop Circles: Signs of Contact", Career Press, P154, ISBN 156414674X)

Doug Bower, Dave Chorley, and John Lundberg are three men who have been able to create circles which were indistinguishable as man made/declared "genuine" by professional crop circle experts ("cereologists" - vast apologies for all these quote marks!).

Bower and Chorley were awarded an Ig Nobel Prize in 1992 for their crop circle hoaxing.

The latter gentleman, Lundberg, is a documentary film-maker and has created the site http://circlemakers.org/. Many of his groups, and his own circles have been reported in the media as authentic, and I think The Guardian newspaper gave him an award for his work. The site has videos of him creating the circles, as well as the newspaper articles that they generated. Wiki has a page on him too.

I am aware that this gentleman is not from the seventeenth century, but I contend that people in that era were able to create circles as well - they had the technology, after all.

As much as I would like to believe that there isn't life out there, that we are unique(because ya know, we have enough problems from people originating from THIS planet).
When things like this are found, it seriously puts a damper to that. Hell we might not have been the first set of people/humans on this planet(there are people who believe that).
That being said, I don't see why a race, why has got so much technological advances to us, would give us a second glance, and even if they did, why would they be so cunning about it.

Nah, it is just another religion I dont believe in...

Have you seen some of the people that claim to have been abducted... crazy people, or at least what I call crazy people. Until a close friend of mine starts talking about being abducted, I think I'll just ignore most of them.

No.

If they have the technology and minds to fly halfway across the universe to look at other planets up close. They probably don't need to meet us in person to know we're a bunch of idiots.

Just no. If there was a race capable of inter-system space travel I'm sure they'd come and say 'hi' rather than shoving probes up people's probe holes.

Blue Sonnet:
[quote="cuddly_tomato" post="18.82767.1137197"]
I'm pretty sure the stick is new too.

You have no idea how hard i laughed at this.

And i have to agree that alien abductions are incredibly unlikely. I think we would be enslaved or wiped out. If you think about it, a species so much more advanced than us to the point of that sort of space travel would view us as very much inferior beings. I mean if we traveled 400 light years to find a planet inhabited by cows what would we do? We would eat the cows and colonize the planet.

rossatdi:
Just no. If there was a race capable of inter-system space travel I'm sure they'd come and say 'hi' rather than shoving probes up people's probe holes.

Seconded.

Yes, I absolutely believe that alien abductions happen.
Just not in this solar system.

Blue Sonnet:

cuddly_tomato:

I doubt it, unless those blokes are hundreds of years old. The first crop circle recorded was in the 17th century. I don't think it's aliens or shite like that, but they don't seem to be man made.

Well, not the same blokes, obviously. I'm pretty sure the stick is new too.

Pedantic time - studies have been done showing that around 80% of circles in the UK are man-made (Spignesi, Stephen J. and Andrews, Colin (2003) "Crop Circles: Signs of Contact", Career Press, P154, ISBN 156414674X)

Colin Andrews? The "psychic quester"? It is far more likely he is using that 80% figure to make up some of his bullshit about the other 20% being mysterious powers from beyond.

Blue Sonnet:
Doug Bower, Dave Chorley, and John Lundberg are three men who have been able to create circles which were indistinguishable as man made/declared "genuine" by professional crop circle experts ("cereologists" - vast apologies for all these quote marks!).

Bower and Chorley were awarded an Ig Nobel Prize in 1992 for their crop circle hoaxing.

The latter gentleman, Lundberg, is a documentary film-maker and has created the site http://circlemakers.org/. Many of his groups, and his own circles have been reported in the media as authentic, and I think The Guardian newspaper gave him an award for his work. The site has videos of him creating the circles, as well as the newspaper articles that they generated. Wiki has a page on him too.

I am aware that this gentleman is not from the seventeenth century, but I contend that people in that era were able to create circles as well - they had the technology, after all.

Why would they do such a thing in the 17th century? To get on the news? And what about crop circles in other countries?

This isn't really rocket science. An (as yet) undiscovered force is behind those. Now immediately people are going to be screaming "ALIENS!", but 'undiscovered' means that we haven't identified it yet but it is completely mundane in origin. If you get iron filings, sprinkle them on paper, then hold a magnet underneath and tap the paper you will make regular patterns. Put some kind of thick liquid, mix it with water, and spin the water and patterns will form once again. Put light through a prism or any kind of refractive object and patterns will also form.

Every regular force in nature produces patterns when applied to chaotic matter. It is easy to see why when you think about it - path of least resistance, energy seeks equilibrium, and chaotic matter will always align with the easiest option. I personally think there is some kind of magnetically charged weather we haven't really found out about yet, that interacts with ionic particles in the soil. This would account for the magnetized iron particles in the soil where they occur.

No, don't be silly.

As one of my favorite comedians said once about "visions of god", which also applies to aliens: "it's funny how people who claim to see god never remember the 12 hits of LSD they took before or that they're lying in an hospital bed with their skulls cracked open and their brains hanging out... yep, that could never cause someone to see something that wasn't there."

Blue Sonnet:
Nope, and I say this as someone who possesses every single Fortean Times ever printed.

Hahaha! I love Fortean Times, but it makes me even more skeptical. Those guys take their shit way too seriously.

If aliens are advanced enough to fly across an entire galaxy, then why do they choose to communicate with us through crop circles, weird lights and random abductions? Surely they'd just come down and say hi, or enslave us all? And there isn't any credible evidence that anyone has ever been abducted. Surely at least one of these people could get some physical evidence that they were in a space ship! Unless the alien offered him proof to take down to earth, but the guy refused and said, "Nah, I'm sure everyone will believe me."

There are no alien abductions unless you count people coming over the border and being bundled into a van.

Even if life did or does exist in the universe in the same time-frame as the human race it wouldn't make sense for them to abduct people.

Firstly, because getting here would require a ridiculously advanced civilisation. Faster than light travel is still just a theory. If it is not possible to travel faster than light then it would simply take them so long to get here. Unless they predicted the creation of our planet then left in time for us to get here they would probably miss the human race by at least a few thousand years.

Secondly, there's no motive for them to do it. If they had the ability to get here why would they not have the ability to evaluate us without direct contact. Even if they did choose to use direct contact why would they choose a select few unimportant people to abduct, mostly from the US!? Why would they not abduct some of our greatest minds? Why would they not abduct a vast range of people to do comparative studies?

Thirdly, why would they hide from us yet risk being discovered to abduct people? Why would they return those people to tell others what had happened. This could influence the validity of any tests they may make.

Lastly, because this is all nonsense. There is absolutely no evidence for intelligent life that has come near our planet or even our solar system.

cuddly_tomato:

Blue Sonnet:
Oh, and crop circles are made by blokes with a stick, some string and too much spare time.

I doubt it, unless those blokes are hundreds of years old. The first crop circle recorded was in the 17th century. I don't think it's aliens or shite like that, but they don't seem to be man made.

What!? Why would people not have been able to create crop circles back in the 17th century? It's not like it requires some sort of future technology.

Crop circles are made to grab attention. Humans have created artworks throughout history in many different ways.

If aliens made the why would they bother doing it in crops? Why would they not just scold the pattern into the earth? Nowadays why would they not just communicate to us via technology?

Also, what is the significance of a circle, it is very human for us to see some sort of relevance in circles, they are pleasing in their uniformity. There is no reason why an alien race would consider circles to have any special reason over any other shape.

Undecided. All the evidence says no, but if there is really intelligent life then i don't put it past them. Just think what we would do if we had space travel and first contact as mundane occurrences.

beddo:
Also, what is the significance of a circle, it is very human for us to see some sort of relevance in circles, they are pleasing in their uniformity. There is no reason why an alien race would consider circles to have any special reason over any other shape.

Well, the circle/sphere is a pretty useful shape/object. Most area/perimeter or volume/surface area is useful, especially if you want to build a spaceship, and have the most room in it for the least amount of material (Streamlining wouldn't be necessary for the main ship, only whatever goes between that and the surface).

Not that I think abductions happen. I'm with most people that if they wanted to study us they could do it without interfering.

beddo:

cuddly_tomato:

Blue Sonnet:
Oh, and crop circles are made by blokes with a stick, some string and too much spare time.

I doubt it, unless those blokes are hundreds of years old. The first crop circle recorded was in the 17th century. I don't think it's aliens or shite like that, but they don't seem to be man made.

What!? Why would people not have been able to create crop circles back in the 17th century? It's not like it requires some sort of future technology.

Crop circles are made to grab attention. Humans have created artworks throughout history in many different ways.

Attention is indeed a motive, but the people will always own up to making such things. That is the point.

As I said, patterns occur throught nature. It doesn't mean they are deliberate or that someone is behind it. The fact of the matter is that the idea of them all being hoaxes is as laughable as them all being made my aliens. Until, that is, someone can show us a 400 year old human who is capable of appearing in several parts of the world all at the same time and who likes making circles in crop fields but never-the-less doesn't want anyone to know it is him.

beddo:
If aliens made the why would they bother doing it in crops? Why would they not just scold the pattern into the earth? Nowadays why would they not just communicate to us via technology?

cuddly_tomato:
I don't think it's aliens or shite like that, but they don't seem to be man made.

http://skeptoid.com/episode.php?id=4008&comments=all#

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis

http://www.susanblackmore.co.uk/Articles/ejufoas00.html

Aardvark Soup:
http://skeptoid.com/episode.php?id=4008&comments=all#

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis

http://www.susanblackmore.co.uk/Articles/ejufoas00.html

So are you for or against aliens? I have experienced sleep paralysis before. There weren't any aliens there. I'm also amused by the fact that most abductees are unwilling to participate in tests to confirm their stories.

AuntyEthel:
I have experienced sleep paralysis before. There weren't any aliens there.

People see all sorts of things during sleep paralysis, indistinct humanoid shapes, the grim reaper, the little girl from the ring, Darth Vader...

If someone could tell me the origin of the 'myth' then maybe my opinion would be stronger

Somehow, I think that a race capable of building a ship to cross galaxies has better things to do then kidnap us and jam cameras up our asses.

scumofsociety:
People see all sorts of things during sleep paralysis, indistinct humanoid shapes, the grim reaper, the little girl from the ring, Darth Vader...

I let spiders bite me in the hopes that his helmeted visage might appear when i wake. Mostly i just get paramedics.

Mathew952:
Somehow, I think that a race capable of building a ship to cross galaxies has better things to do then kidnap us and jam cameras up our asses.

Don't underestimate the ability of intelligent species to do damn stupid things. I could list examples but this page has a word limit... I don't think abductions occur, but there is a flaw with this particular 'proof'. On another note, i do have faith in humanity, i just know it and it's habits as well.

well i think its possible we technically capture and examine other species like birds and wild animals. So to them we might just be another group of animals to study and examine. But as it said in above posters they probably have a lot of better things to do to capture another sentient race.

I believe there are aliens but I find the story about probing getting quite old actually... Either every alien race thinks that probing us is worth a trophy or they're nuts because an advanced alien race wouldn't need a billion specimens...

"So, there I was, out in the field, when I heard this strange noise, and then, bright lights out of no where! Suddenly, I felt really sleepy... I was on this table.. I couldn't move, the did weird things to me! They probed and did something to my head! Then... Suddenly.. I was back home. Crazy huh?"
"Yeah... You're crazy alright..."

Two animals talking after one was picked up and tagged by scientists.

That.... or it's alien college frat boys on a bender, "Dude! Lets go pick up some critter off that planet!" Sounds plausible to me.

xitel:
No, I don't think they happen. Not that I don't think it's possible for aliens to exist, I just think that they'll have better ways of interacting than abducting us and sticking things in holes. And they would probably be able to make sure we don't remember if they do.

Men in Black style?

Certainly possible, but I agree with Xitel. They would have far better ways of interacting with if they sought the need. It's much the same argument about time travel. If we did invent it, wouldn't someone of recorded the occurrence of someone appearing from Future? Maybe that's what Jesus was... an over glorified Time traveler... Or Jesus was in fact the last time lord. Dr. Jesus.

Pardon the tangent.... I'll shut up now.